By: Jianli Yang – February 26, 2021
During the video broadcast of the annual duty report by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced that Hong Kong “must always be governed by patriots”. He asserted that “patriotic” politicians were the precondition to the implementation of Chinese Central Government’s comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong, and the ‘preservation’ of its Constitution and Basic law mandates. The broadcast happened few days after the current pro-Beijing Hong Kong Government arrested every single pro-Democracy candidate for upcoming Legislative Council elections. These candidates have reportedly been charged with ‘subversion’ under the newly minted National Security Law (NSL).
His statements are close in line with stance of the Chinese Government to implement an education system that was in line with what they define as “patriotic”. With implementation of NSL and pro-Democracy movement being systematically suppressed. February saw two important developments in this regard. First, Hong Kong’s Education Bureau has brought out some controversial guidelines for schools, providing for teaching students as young as six about ‘foreign interference’ and “subversion” under a new national security curriculum. Similarly, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has threatened its students and student bodies with penalties if they participate in activities that “endanger national security” or “advocate or commit unlawful acts”. The NSL has also started to become a deterrence against formation of student unions; according to a report by HKFP, five of the city’s eight universities unable to elect a student representative body due to a lack of people willing to run. [Continue Reading…]
Source: https://dailyclout.io/opinion-the-game-of-party-and-patriotism-in-hong-kong/